Online: Video

How to make fake rain and sew a superhero costume

Staging a stunt fight. Faking a fall from a tall building. Making a realistic-looking human head. These are some of the lessons offered on a new site aimed at home-video makers and aspiring directors.

Twice a week the site, called IndyMogul.com, hosts a new instructional video on basic filmmaking techniques and what it terms "BFX" -- backyard special effects. In a typical recent video, host Erik Beck responds to a video request from a graduate film student looking for a way to create realistic on-film rain. After...